VR goggles bring out the weird faces in all of us

That’s what one goggled attendee shouts near the end of Sony’s new video (below) showing people’s reaction to its not-yet-released virtual reality headset, codenamed Project Morpheus, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo a couple weeks back in Los Angeles.

He and many other gamers got the chance to try out Sony’s answer to the Oculus Rift at the expo, and boy is it weird to watch them from the outside.

It’s hard to show what VR is really all about without, you know, actually having you wear the headsets. VR rigs like Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus have an uphill battle to convince the rank and file that VR is going to be compelling enough to shell out even more money for their gaming systems.

Sony opted to show us people from the outside, and I’m not sure it’s any more compelling than a 2D video of the VR games on offer right now.

The folks in the video certainly look like they’re into it, especially the hollering bearded dude near the end, but they also look a little lost. Sure, it’s not the full story — immersing yourself into a three dimensional gaming environment has a lot of potential for being fun.

But watching most of these people flail around just reminds me of Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto’s uneasiness with the new technology. The folks in the video, and all the people I saw when I attended the conference myself, just look, well, lost.

What do you think? Is VR in the form of sensory-deprivation headsets the way you want to play your video games? How about taking virtual tours of museums or archeological sites around the globe?

Better yet, does watching this video make you want to buy a VR headset? Let us know in the comments below.

About the author:

Rob LeFebvre is an Anchorage, Alaska-based writer and editor who has contributed to various tech, gaming and iOS sites, including 148Apps, Creative Screenwriting, Shelf-Awareness, VentureBeat, and Paste Magazine. Feel free to find Rob on Twitter @roblef, and send him a cookie once in a while; he'll really appreciate it.